Jeter downplays hot start to season

A rush to judgment can cut both ways, as Derek Jeter knows very well. A year after his poor start spurred whispers that his career was headed downhill, he is not accepting congratulations on a good start as the Yankees' hottest hitter.

"It's not a start, it's a week," he said before leading off the bottom of the first against the Twins' Carl Pavano Monday night with a home run, which followed a double, a three-run home run and a long flyout to center against the Angels on Sunday night. "I don't put much stock in a week, good or bad."

That might be so, but if Jeter's 2012 season actually were a stock, it would be blue chip. After going 2-for-4 Monday night, he is batting .378 and showing enough rejuvenated energy to make him seem like a recent college graduate, not a venerable honorary-degree recipient (Siena College, outside Albany, announced Monday that Jeter, 37, will be so honored at graduation next month).

At the very least, he is showing that it was premature to have speculated last April that he wasn't good enough or spry enough to bat leadoff anymore. "I was trying something different last year. It didn't work," he said, referring to an experiment with his stride toward the pitch.

He did acknowledge that he feels more comfortable this April than last April. Though he does not consider the small sample to constitute a "start," he cannot argue that it is a trend. "I was comfortable the second half last year," he said Monday. Beginning July 9, when he went 5-for-5 and reached 3,000 career hits, he batted .338 and had 90 hits in his final 65 games.

Joe Girardi said, "He has been a different guy -- I keep saying it -- since he got 3,000. He's a completely different guy."

The manager said that about five minutes after Jeter stood at his locker and told reporters it is a mistake -- a common mistake, he pointed out -- to trace his resurgence to the relief of having reached the 3,000-hit milestone. Jeter said that timing was coincidental; the real improvement began weeks before that during an injury rehab assignment in Tampa, when he worked with his former minor-league manager, Gary Denbo, on staying back on the ball.

SEE PHOTOSThe 3,000 hits club

There probably are elements of both the relief and the adjustment in his surge. "I try not to think about it too much," Jeter said.

For Girardi, the more important question is whether to give Jeter the days off that he needs while he still is hot, or wait until he cools and then sit him. It is a good problem to have.

In fact, someone was asking if Jeter can get 4,000 hits (he has 3,105 after picking up two in his first two at-bats Monday night). "I wouldn't put it by him. He looks as young now as he has ever looked, as far as I'm concerned," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "They've got so many great players over there, professional players. He tops the list. I know there was talk last year that his range was this or that, but every time he plays us, we never get a ball by him. He's a great player and a great hitter. Mr. Clutch, the whole package.

"Now you tell me he's their hottest hitter. Thanks. I appreciate that."